Wood Elf Ranger->Dread Commando help

[Angerland]

Hey guys.

Started a new campaign in a home brew setting. The DM will allow pretty much anything 3.0-3.5 sources EXCEPT Bo9S (don't even ask).
Well I decided to play a wood elf TWF Style Ranger.
Str 17, Dex 19, Con 14, Wis 12, Int 11, Cha 11. I have 2 traits: Agressive (+2 Init/-1AC) and Quick (+10' spd, -1 hp per level)I also have the flaw Shaky (-2 to ranged attacks) which has already lead to great roleplaying scenes. "Your an elf, aren't you ALL supposed to be good with a bow?"
My feats are: Exotic WP: Bastard Sword, WF Bastard Sword, TWF -- one of the feats was a bonus for the flaw and one is the Ranger combat style.
So yes obvioulsy I am armed with two bastard swords and I will be taking Oversized TWF to offset those penalties. I was thinking of power attack, cleave and improved crit further down the career. Any advice here would rock.
We just hit 2nd level so I now have the combat style. I have been looking ahead and I really like the Dread Commando PRC from Heroes of Battle. I am wondering if anyone could offer some advice as to if working towards this PrC would be effective or not. Also I was wondering about dipping into either Rogue or Scout. My preference would be Rogue. Any advice on feats and such would be great and appreciated. I think I need the mobility feat so I would have to dip into the Dodge feat tree. Thoughts?
In the Party: Halfling Rogue/Fighter, Human Paladin of Anubis, Human Sorceror with a bit of Draconic Heritage stuff going on, 1/2 Orc Monk, and an as of yet unfleshed out Favored Soul who will be heading to Mystic Theurge somehow.
Other than the Paladin, I have to be the main fighter type, which is fine by me, I tend to lean that way in my gaming style.

Once again any tips would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long rambling post.

 

[Angerland]

I also took the 1st level of the Elven Ranger substitution levels. My 1st Favored Enemy is Undead and I am strongly thinking of taking Arcanists as my next one,though it seems my DM is bringing in a lot of Lovecraftian type monsters so perhaps I need to look at Aberrations or Magical Beasts instead.

 

[Animal]

2 lvls of rogue would be neat, +1d6 SA, evasion and skills are all win.
if you're getting oversized TWF, better take telling blow too and use scimitars to benefit from your SS and SA.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

So, you've got -1 AC, -1 hp/level, AND took your first level in a racial sub. that has a lower Hit Die? In general, don't get too reckless....

Unless you really like the mental image of two bastard swords, I really have to recommend you not waste a feat on EWP: Bastard Sword. d8 -->d10 (longsword to bastard) is barely a difference, and you will REALLY want Oversized TWF to start with, so you need a feat open anyway. If you stick with the bastard swords anyway, at least try to get Strong Arm Bracers (Magic Item Compendium, 6000 gp) ASAP. They let you ue +1 size weapons, so those bastard swords would deal 2d8 each (assuming you go and buy large versions).

Power Attack: Bad idea. You gain no benefit with the off-hand attack per RAW, even though it's a bastard sword. I houseruled OTWF to let you treat the off-hand weapon as a one-handed weapon (for 1-for-1 tradeoff) for Power Attack, but I'm pretty sure that's not the normal rule.
Cleave: You're already getting a lot of attacks per round, this is much better for people with few but powerful attacks.
Improved Crit: Definitely useful to have.

What you should think about above all else is: How will I ensure I can full attack as often as possible? Only then can you use your two swords. With your weak defenses, standing still and trading full attacks with the enemy may not be too desirable either, so think of ways to also stay mobile. Look for items like the boots of sidestepping (MIC; 3/day bonus 5 ft step as a swift action) to get your full attack and deny the opponent his afterwards (by 5 ft stepping twice, in this case). Allied spellcasters can also help you be positioned for a full attack. Ask the sorcerer to learn, or buy him a wand of, Benign Transposition (750 gp, level 1 spell). It has medium (100 +10 ft/level) range, and swaps places between two willing creatures. So...Mage is charged. His turn, he 5 ft steps back, Benign Transpositions with you. He's now safe, and you can step in and have some fun.

EDIT: As for Mobility, if you want it but don't feel like spending feats to get it, check out Magic Item Compendium. (yeah, yet again. It's just got so much stuff.) There is an armor enhancement called Mobility that gives you the benefit of the feat for only +1 equivalent market price. It only can be put on light armor, but with your dex, I doubt you'll want anything heavier anyway.

 

[Angerland]

No worries about my recklessnes with this character. I know that I am not the tank of the group. Our DM did start us out wealthier than most for some devious plot line of his. I started off with a Mithril breast plate. He is also adapting the feat Catfolk Pounce from Races of the Wild to remove the cat folk racial requirement. This will allow me to full attack after a charge against a flat footed opponent (iirc, away from books). I think the DM will be open to changing the extra damage fromt he Dred Commando over to sneak attack so it stacks.

Question. is 2 levels of Rogue enough or should I push through to 3 and if so, when do I dip? do I take them all sequentially or mix it back and forth?

 

[Animal]

sneak attack does stack with sudden strike when conditions for both are met. i think it's well balanced as it is.
2 lvls of rogue should be enough. after that rogue levels don't really benefit your build. i'd go with something like fighter 2/ranger 2/rogue 2 before entering the PrC. for added precision damage just stick to dread commando. if you want extra sneakiness consider taking a level of shadow dancer for HiPS.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Going to Rogue 4 isn't particularly damaging from Rogue 2. Your hp and fort save might dip slightly, but BAB will not, you'll have some more skill points (come to think of it, if you were doing Elf Ranger at level 1 anyway, you may as well have started as a Rogue...), extra +1d6 SA, and Uncanny Dodge, which is always useful to anyone w/ Dex.

Also, with 4 levels in rogue, if you wait till the level(s) just before Dread Commando to finish up with Rogue, you can max out Use Magic Device ranks for that level. I forget what level you can enter Dread Commando, but say if it were level 8; you could do Ranger 3 / Rogue 4, and be able to have a max of 10 ranks in UMD by level 7. As long as you take at least the last level before the prestige class in Rogue, you can pay for the ranks at a 1-for-1 cost. This is worth considering because if you can make a DC 20 check (and if you can get to +19 you automatically make it), you can use any wand in the entire game. Words can't do justice the amount of versatility that offers.

 

[rgard]

If SA isn't important to you, take a look at the martial rogue variant in UA (also in the SRD). Two levels will get you 2 fighter bonus feats as well as evasion and the extra skills.

 

[Iku Rex]

Dread Commando is not a good class for you. The prerequisite feats are of little use, and you don't have a way to reliably take advantage of sudden strike.

I'd look for some levels of barbarian and/or fighter, followed by Wildrunner (RotW).

Normally I'd suggest Champion of Corellon Larethian (RotW) for a dual-wielding elf, but it doesn't work well with bastard swords. And you lack the Int for Combat Expertise, so you'd need an item if you want to go Dervish (CWar).

Low-level build:
1 Rgr1 WF:BS, EWP: BS
2 Rgr2 TWF
3 Ftr1 Oversized TWF (CAdv), Power Attack
4 Brb1
5 Rgr3 Endurance
6 Wildrunner1 Extra Rage (CWar)
7 Wildrunner2
8 Ftr2 Improved TWF
9 Brb2 [Pounce feat thingy?]
... more wildrunner, maybe more ranger eventually. Drop the barbarian levels in favor of fighter to get Weapon Specialization and Melee Weapon Mastery

You'll have +6 Str, +6 Dex and +4 Con when screaming and raging. Quick + Barbarian + Wildrunner = 60 ft. speed before magic items/spells. Wildrunner gets you a kind of pounce at class level 6. You could also use the cheesy CCha lion totem barbarian ACF.

Items worth mentioning:
Millennial Chainmail (MIC) is a very powerful item with the True Believer feat.
Both the Strongarm Bracers (MIC) and Armbands of Might (MIC) are useful. The bracers let you use 2d8 Large swords, the armbands adds 2 to your PA damage.
Gauntlets of War (CCha) and a war god means +3 damage on your attacks.

 

[Iku Rex]

Power Attack: Bad idea. You gain no benefit with the off-hand attack per RAW, even though it's a bastard sword.

Wrong. Power Attack doesn't usually work with light weapons. A bastard sword is not a light weapon.